Greenwich's 'Black Houdini' back in custody

Paul Schott and Robert Marchant

Updated 11:03 pm, Friday, January 16, 2015

The vanishing act of the "Black Houdini" is over.

Bryan Francois, 21, who dubbed himself the "Black Houdini" after escaping from police custody outside his Cos Cob home last week, was arrested Monday in a Chadbourn, N.C., hotel and soon will be heading back to Connecticut, according to Greenwich police.

"Mr. Francois is a longtime Greenwich resident who has made a few bad choices, the most recent of which was deciding to flee rather than face the charges, exacerbating the bad situation that he was in to begin with," said Greenwich Police Lt. Kraig Gray.

Francois waived extradition on burglary, larceny and drug charges during a court appearance on Friday in North Carolina, and will head back to Connecticut sometime next week, Gray said.

Police originally arrested Francois on Jan. 5, after they served a search warrant at his home on Sinawoy Road on drug charges that included operating a drug factory, distribution of a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia.

Shortly after Francois was put in a squad car, he complained to the transporting officer that his handcuffs were too tight, Gray said. The officer let Francois out of the car to loosen his cuffs.

At that point, Francois fled, Gray said.

The officer chased after him without success, police said. A large contingent of Greenwich officers and a K-9 unit from New Rochelle, N.Y., joined the search, focusing on the Cos Cob commercial center on East Putnam Avenue, a few blocks from Francois' home.

"We searched long and hard for him that evening, but unfortunately that night we didn't find him," Gray said.

Francois was hiding out in a motor home in Cos Cob that he is accused of entering illegally, according to Gray.

Francois eventually left the motor home and then allegedly stole a 2005 Honda Element parked outside a home a few blocks away, Gray said. From there, Francois drove the approximately 650 miles to Chadbourn.

He had been staying in a Chadbourn hotel for several days -- and had failed to pay his bill last weekend -- before he was arrested, Gray said.

Gray said he did not know why Francois chose to go to Chadbourn.

Police are investigating how Francois got away and whether the transporting officer followed all department protocol.

"It's been a long time" since a suspect escaped Greenwich police custody, Gray said. He declined to comment further on that point.

Gray said Francois's arrest in southeastern North Carolina was the result of good investigative work and coordination among Greenwich police and other law-enforcement agencies.

While he was on the run, Francois did not disappear entirely. He popped up on social media two days after his escape.

In a rambling Jan. 7 Facebook post, Francois discussed his dislike of police and ambitions to run a million-dollar record label. He described police as "filthy pigs" and "racist pigs."

"I almost froze to death," he wrote of the night of his escape. "They unleashed the Black Houdini in me and I became smoke."

Francois, a former Brunswick School student, said in his Facebook screed that he was framed.

"They unrightfully held me in a car while police planted false evidence in my room," he wrote. "It's OK I'm getting back on my feet and getting a lawyer."

He recounted reciting prayers in Haitian Creole on the night of his escape. He also bragged "our record label will be worth millions if not billions."

"He does a lot of music. He has a YouTube page, hip-hop," she said. "He's a good kid. I don't know if he got mixed up with the wrong people, but he does the right thing."

The Westchester County District Attorney's Office said Tuesday that Francois pleaded guilty in November 2011 to robbery in the second-degree, a felony, in a Port Chester case and in February 2012 was sentenced to up to six months in the Westchester County Jail. He was on probation when he fled.